Maximum hard drive size limitations

[jthorpe]

I have an old Windows XP desktop with a ACPI Multiprocessor PC motherboard, what is the max internal drive size I can use? Is there any restrictions on a RAID drive size? I have an old Sony Vaio VGC-RA830G desktop. I'm looking to possibly use 2 - 4 TB or 2 - 6 tb hard drives, but want to make sure they'll work before getting them.

Thanks.

 

[little_me]

maximum drive size for XP is 2TB, that is all due to MBR that XP uses,
you could in theory get bigger drives with 64 bit XP but... it all goes iffy past that 2TB. And no, RAID is no exception as far as I know.

Yes, you could supposedly use bigger drives but XP would see only 2TB, rest would be gone.
Some say that changing sector size from default 512 bytes to 1024 would allow for maximum of 4TB.

if you use GPT partitions (that XP wont support natively) and 64 bit LBA supporting drivers, you could get past the 2TB also.

in short, lot of work to go past 2TB, if you want just storage system, installing linux would be free and it would overcome the limits.

 

[ex_bubblehead]

Current drives use native 4KB sector size which is not supported by XP. Even if you can find large drives that emulate 512-Byte sectors you will still be limited to 2GB maximum volume size, RAID or not.

 

[jthorpe]

maximum drive size for XP is 2TB, that is all due to MBR that XP uses,
you could in theory get bigger drives with 64 bit XP but... it all goes iffy past that 2TB. And no, RAID is no exception as far as I know.

Yes, you could supposedly use bigger drives but XP would see only 2TB, rest would be gone.
Some say that changing sector size from default 512 bytes to 1024 would allow for maximum of 4TB.

if you use GPT partitions (that XP wont support natively) and 64 bit LBA supporting drivers, you could get past the 2TB also.

in short, lot of work to go past 2TB, if you want just storage system, installing linux would be free and it would overcome the limits.

Is the 2 TB drive size specific to each drive or in total (i.e.: can I use 2 x 2 TB drives in a RAID0 for a combined total of roughly 4 TB), or is the RAID0 portion capped at 2 TB as well? Also, I have a 3rd bay for an additional hard drive (not the boot drive(s) but a storage drive), will this handle a drive larger than 2 TB?

I know that RAID0 offers no protection/redundency, but all this old XP computer is just used for media storage and the DVD creation program and all files (especially the important ones) are backed up to a NAS drive and to cloud, but would rather have as much space on the local machine as it's easier than downloading from the cloud or importing from a NAS drive. It'll be basically a video storage unit until I can edit and create DVD's, so as much space I can put on it, will save me time from having to transfer from either a NAS or Cloud. Also, I'm looking at a Sony Vaio VGC-LV150 all-in-one (Specs: https://esupport.sony.com/US/p/model-home.pl?mdl=VGCLV150J) for sale online for a cheap price. I'm thinking about getting that and using it for online games like Meridian 59, etc. (non intense games). From what I read it's a maxed out at 4 GB of RAM and originally came with Vista (but currently has Windows 7 installed). What would the max drive size for this system (for both the main drive and the second drive bay). I'm thinking of setting this up in my network as a file sharing device, streaming video to things like Boxee Box, etc. with everything either backedup to a NAS &/or to a cloud storage. I know it's an older system, but since it's cheap, I'm thinking about it and would like to copy my CD's & DVD's onto it (I have about 1,500+ each of CD's & DVD's) and using it as a central place for all media files, some light gaming and maybe work with office documents (i.e.: Excel spreadsheets, word, etc.). So most of it, if the drive crashes, I have the physical media to restore the system with it, The guy selling it is selling it for around $100 so thinking about it if it works and upgrade/replace the drives in it. According to Crucial Memory site, it's a SATA 2 - 3 Gb/s. And from what I've found online it has a: AIO Intel Motherboard s775 motherboard.

Thanks again.

 

[little_me]

in RAID, computer sees more than 1 disk as single disk, thus it wont allow you to bypass the 2TB limit.
As quoted from MS:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/2581408

Overall requirements for a non-bootable data volume

For a system to be able to address the maximum capacity of a device that has a storage capacity of more than 2 TB, the following prerequisites apply:
The disk must be initialized by using GPT.
The Windows version must be one of the following (32-bit or 64-bit, unless otherwise noted, but including all SKU editions):
Windows Server 2008 R2 (only 64 bit version available)
Windows Server 2008
Windows 7
Windows Vista
The latest storage drivers from your storage controller manufacturer must be installed. For example, if your system uses an Intel storage controller that is set to “RAID” mode, make sure that you have the latest applicable drivers from the Intel support site.
Overall, you should contact your system vendor to determine whether the system supports device sizes of more than 2 TB.

Overall requirements for a bootable system volume

Assume that you want to meet the following conditions:
Have a storage device on which you can install Windows.
Make the storage device bootable.
Enable the operating system to address a maximum storage capacity for that device of greater than 2 TB.
To meet these conditions, the following prerequisites apply:
The disk must be initialized by using GPT.
The system firmware must use UEFI.
The Windows version must be one of the following (64-bit only, but including all SKU editions):
Windows Server 2008 R2
Windows Server 2008
Windows 7
Windows Vista
The latest storage drivers from your storage controller manufacturer must be installed. For example, if your system uses an Intel storage controller set to “RAID” mode, make sure that you have the latest applicable drivers from the Intel support site.
Note Windows does not support starting GPT-initialized volumes by using UEFI systems on 32-bit versions of Windows. Also, legacy BIOS systems do not support starting GPT-partitioned volumes. Consult your system vendor to determine whether the system supports both UEFI and the startup of devices that have storage capacities of greater than 2 TB.

In short, you could use bigger than 2TB disks in vista or more recent version (not as os/boot disk) as long as:
1. Disk is initialized as GPT and not MBR

If you want to boot from it: (none of the disks are smaller than 2TB)
1. Disk must be initialized as GPT
2. System must use EUFI and not BIOS
3. windows must be vista or more recent
4. windows must be 64 bit, 32 bit OS can only use over 2TB disks as data storage, not boot from them.

That said, you can, as far as I can see, use the VAIO as a storage computer. (vista, 64 bits) as long as you use the original hard disk as OS/boot disk. I honestly doubt that it supports UEFI.